Three senior police officers on duty during the Hillsborough disaster have said ‘We do not regard the report as independent’

The three surviving most senior police officers who were on duty at the Hillsborough football ground when 96 Liverpool supporters died have questioned the independence of the government-appointed panel’s landmark report into the disaster.

The report published in September, led to an apology by David Cameron for “indefensible” conduct over Hillsborough by South Yorkshire police and to the 1991 inquest verdict of accidental death being quashed in December. The criticism was made by John Beggs QC, acting for the Police Superintendents’ Association, at a court hearing of preliminary issues for the new inquest, which the coroner, Lord Justice Goldring, ruled will begin on 31 March next year.

Representing chief superintendent David Duckenfield, who was in command at Hillsborough for the 1989 FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, and superintendents Roger Greenwood and Roger Marshall, in charge respectively inside and outside the ground, Beggs said: “We do not regard the report as independent.”

He referred to the report’s introductory section in which the Hillsborough Independent Panel said it was “guided in its work by its regular consultation with, and the priorities of, Hillsborough families and their representatives.”

Beggs said: “The terms of reference made sure the report was not independent because it was guided by the families. It had an agenda which was responsible to and guided by the families, and not my clients.”

The bishop of Liverpool, who chaired the panel, and the Home Office, which principally set it up, declined to comment. Charles Falconer QC, the former lord chancellor who is acting for the Hillsborough Family Support Group, said the remarks “wilfully misunderstood” the panel’s work, to address bereaved families’ longstanding concerns that the previous inquest and inquiries had been inadequate.

Trevor Hicks, HFSG president, whose two daughters died at Hillsborough, said the criticism was “appalling” and said. “The panel was independent, its report was accepted by everybody including the prime minister,” Hicks said. “These police officers need to accept it.”

The court heard families’ concerns about the pace and conduct of the new investigation into the disaster, headed by Jon Stoddart, former chief constable of Durham police. Several of Stoddart’s officers arrived unannounced at families’ homes recently, said Michael Mansfield QC, for the HFSG: “People were doorstepped in a way which made them feel they were the ones being investigated,” Mansfield said.

There have been delays recruiting 70 investigators in addition to Stoddart’s current 70-member team, and families were dismayed by recruitment adverts carried by G4S, the firm associated with Olympic security disorganisation.

Stoddart said his officers approached the families “in good faith,” but had learned lessons about the sensitivities of doing so.

Goldring set the firm inquest date “for the focussing of minds,” saying 31 March 2014 balances the work required with families’ desires for the inquest to be soon.

The inquest will be before a jury, mandatory where there is a question that police may have caused the deaths. The venue, in the northwest, is yet to be determined.

A news article on 2013-06-05 22:55:00 from: The Guardian

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